Ack ... progress is so ... incremental. I still have plenty of work to do on the frame which is unfortunate — I'm now at least one full month behind where I wanted to be (I wanted to be able to start testing at the end of June). I have not yet given up, though.

I finished the suspension mount for the rear swingarm so I've got a suspension on all three wheels. The rear needs a height adjustment (rebuild one part) and I might just use my spacer bar instead of a shock and just lock it. I am also unhappy about the amount of twist I get in the rear swing-arm (the rear wheel can independently pivot on the ground). I might have to just bolt it solid to the rest of the frame if I can't fix that problem. An unlikely but fortunate serendipity might be that it will stabilize with more weight.

The transmission parts are coming together. I now have all the parts and mounted the bearings in their holders, welded the two-speed gearbox square drives into their bearing centers, and am all set to mount all the chainrings and sprockets. The NuVinci has a home on the frame and in theory, I could string it all together with chain. I first want to get the dustproofing done, though, because the transmission bearings are not sealed and I had to clean them very well to get all the junk out of them from having them out.

I had a setback with the brakes because the brackets I bought to hold them don't leave enough clearance in the wheel. I think I can cut them up and use a slightly different design to get around that. I had an insight that I can have hand-brakes on either of the front wheels as steering will be accomplished with bars welded right to the hub (and the two wheels linked with Ackermann geometry). The brake cable will be very short. The foot pedal rear-brake should be straightforward too.

Tomorrow looks like another full day, and hopefully I'll be sitting on something close to rideable. I can dedicate a lot of time to this project so I'm not ready to quit yet. I am worried, however, that if I use UPS ground delivery, I'll need to pack it and ship it on August 18. I won't have to leave home for another week, so I figure I can unrealistically wrap up electronics and the incidental aspect of preparing for Burning Man in that time.

Yesterday wasn't as productive but today made up for it. I did ditch the rear suspension and bolted it directly. I had to do some funny stuff so [what was] the trailing arm can still swing under the frame for shipping (without undoing any chains!) Yesterday left a rickety frame so I built some additional trusses and solidified it right up beyond what is satisfactory stiffness/strength. I also got the front brakes mounted solidly so it's merely (ha! "merely") a matter of cabling there. The back brake is less critical but it should be much easier to install.

Today I got as far as starting the sliding part for the Ackermann steering but decided to quit a little early because I felt the Vulture of Mistakes-I'll-Re-do-Tomorrow circling around. Tomorrow is a rain day so I'll get things in my life in order and perhaps do work for money just to switch things up a bit. Thursday and Friday will be more ass-kicking.

The goal now is to be able to ride to the market on Saturday. I still refuse to set a call-it-dead date, but gosh, it's really coming up whether I like it or not. I feel like things are really close now: steering,

I got out today to set up the drivetrain and get something rideable, but everything has been in tractor-pull mode. You know: the more effort you exert, the higher the weight goes on the sled, and the slower you go? I had abandoned making a completely dustproof drivetrain and decided to just buy sealed bearings to replace the open ones. All the pieces go together like they should, and I probably could have been pedaling it today, but I have 11 days until it must go via UPS Ground to Winnemucca. That includes testing, painting, and building a combination shipping crate/trailer — for which I was running out of long, light pieces to make it with. Then there's the whole "make the electronics for the lights and everything else" which was scheduled for the 6 days between when I shipped and when I left.

Anyway, here are some pictures of how far I did get. I will definitely be finishing this thing up for use around town, and by then, I'll have gotten all the kinks out and be ready for Burning Man 2012.

essjay wrote:Will the final version have a seat with more back support?

Yet another thing! I have a mesh-back chair that I was going to modify and install for back support. The seat back will be sloped back a few degrees (105° or so) and anchored to the front with angled pieces, and the shifters would stick out of those angled pieces.

theCryptofishist wrote:It's funny how you have to play with deadlines to get stuff done and done right sometimes.

Once upon a time I worked in corporate jobs and actually gleaned something useful from a Microsoft training seminar. It pretty much universally applies to projects as long as the concepts are sufficiently broadened.

There are three factors in play when you do a project: time, cost, and features. Narrowly, time is the schedule, cost is the dollars, and features are the requirements. Loosely, time is hands-on effort (how to get all the things done in order), cost is hands-off effort (buying stuff, other people's work), and features are whatever you want to accomplish. You get to control one of them tightly, guide a second a little, and let the third go as it may.

I found that by pretending to control all three, I could divine when one or another took control. When I started stripping out things that I thought were pretty essential, it became clear that I didn't have control of features and that time was the goal, so I just moved "features" back to the top and moved "time" down.

I don't have a scale big enough so I don't know ... a lot. I know the tires are 26 pounds each. Just from moving it around, I'd guess the central frame (no suspension or front wheels) is around 40 pounds, and I figure each front wheel/A-arm assembly is around 10, then the rear is probably another 10, so something like 70 total. The unladen vehicle is going to top out around 150 or so I'd wager. I guessed around 250 earlier in the thread, and I'm still not counting lights and batteries which is probably another 15 pounds.

i have been wondering about you and your plan....great to see the pics....nice work...2012 it is then...i have a 94 civic vx with those wheels. amazing how light they are...yet still so heavy to pedal so far with added weight...oh the journey as what makes getting there so much BIGGER

Originally it was 2011, but I scrapped plans 3 weeks before because I wasn't nearly close enough to done.

And then I never even got to Burning Man 2011 ... the short answer is I took the Amtrak to Chicago, but during that trip, the eastbound California Zephyr hit a crane on the tracks and derailed, so they closed the track for several weeks. I went back home. I blogged it so I wouldn't repeat myself.

Ugly Dougly wrote:Is the frame steel? How much weight would you save with aluminum?

jaycerochester wrote:Just from moving it around, I'd guess the central frame (no suspension or front wheels) is around 40 pounds, and I figure each front wheel/A-arm assembly is around 10, then the rear is probably another 10 ...

The central frame includes the NuVinci, chains, and sprockets which all add up to maybe 10 or so. The steel frame alone, then is about 30 pounds. The front wheel assemblies get most of their weight from the hub and rotor, shock absorber, and brakes — there is very little steel (maybe 3-4 pounds); likewise with the rear assembly (no shock, but a beastly #530 sprocket).

So the steel to make the frame is about 40 pounds total right now ... I imagine I'll be looking at maybe 50 when all is said and done. I'd guess aluminum could save half that. But even so, I find aluminum to be a little scary because I'm not familiar with using it, and I know it's a bit more finicky in that it can't be permitted to flex as much.

Jason...one of these days i will show you the remains of the crude hovercraft Lucas and i built from a leaf blower and old truck innertubes for a skirt.....im thinking flying hoverbike, hell, its only 2012 once, and jungo rd. is no joke.

Zhust wrote:I made one minor change to the plans that will make it all happen:

Instead of 2011, it's now 2012.

I got out today to set up the drivetrain and get something rideable, but everything has been in tractor-pull mode. You know: the more effort you exert, the higher the weight goes on the sled, and the slower you go? I had abandoned making a completely dustproof drivetrain and decided to just buy sealed bearings to replace the open ones. All the pieces go together like they should, and I probably could have been pedaling it today, but I have 11 days until it must go via UPS Ground to Winnemucca. That includes testing, painting, and building a combination shipping crate/trailer — for which I was running out of long, light pieces to make it with. Then there's the whole "make the electronics for the lights and everything else" which was scheduled for the 6 days between when I shipped and when I left.

Anyway, here are some pictures of how far I did get. I will definitely be finishing this thing up for use around town, and by then, I'll have gotten all the kinks out and be ready for Burning Man 2012.

It's been fallow in my garage for a few years now. One thing holding me up is a seat mount. Fortunately I—and by that I mean "God"—dumped an entire bottle of olive oil (the friggin' expensive kind) onto the passenger seat. What with buying a new-to-me seat, I have the nice tough DOT-approved-beefiness slider rails which helps me solve the whole repositionable seat problem. Nonetheless, I'm not closer to actually trekking Jungo. It is not entirely off the list yet ...